"Conversation. What is it? A Mystery! It's the art of never seeming bored, of touching everything with interest, of pleasing with trifles, of being fascinating with nothing at all. How do we define this lively darting about with words, of hitting them back and forth, this sort of brief smile of ideas which should be conversation?" Guy de Maupassant

Fantastic effort ... and thank you for pitching in and helping our world.

Cameron Sinclair: When Worldchanging and Architecture for Humanity began the tsunami reconstruction fund
on Monday we placed an initial target of $10,000 by the end of the
year. A mere 32 hours later we surpassed that mark and by 5pm today the
donations and pledges pushed it over the $25,000 mark. As we
are donating all design services, this increased goal would be enough
to build more than a 15 homes, 4 schools or one medical clinic.

A huge thank you to all who donated, and who will soon donate: the more funds we raise the more we can rebuild.

If you want your contribution to be counted towards the 2004 tax
year (Architecture for Humanity is a registered 501(c)3 organization)
you have until tomorrow to donate. Remember your employer may also
match your donation.

With over 320 donors, frankly we are a little overwhelmed by the
response and thanks to the incredible Worldchanging/AFH community we
are increasing our goal to US$100,000

Three
families, who were looking for their relatives in andaman and
nicobar(CNN MISSING PEOPLE PAGE), who we sent links to our South-East
Asia Earthquake and Tsunami help blog and wiki have just replied saying that they have FOUND all of them safe and sound. They have thanked us all for the effort we put in.

Two more individuals Lori Gustafson from London and Lindsay Francis
from Seattle are fine and doing well..their families have this to say
to us:

"Thank you so much for your information. It is so nice to know
there are so many people in the world who are still caring enough to
take their time to respond to our request. We managed to conatct Lori
and she is doing well.We wish you a Very Happy New Year.Margaret
Eastman (Lori's Mother)"

"Thank you for your kind words. Lisa has be confirmed as safe.
Please do convey my deepest regards and good wishes to all those who
are putting so much time and effort to maintain this mammoth of task.
We are all so happy to know that such amazing people live in this world
too." (Lindsay's sister)

I am the people--the mob--the crowd--the mass.Do you know that all the great work of the world is done through me?I am the workingman, the inventor, the maker of the world's food and clothes.I am the audience that witnesses history.The Napoleons come from me and the Lincolns.They die.And then I send forth more Napoleons and Lincolns.I am the seed ground.I am a prairie that will stand for much plowing.Terrible storms pass over me.I forget.The best of me is sucked out and wasted.I forget.Everything but Death comes to me and makes me work and give up what Ihave. And I forget.Sometimes I growl, shake myself and spatter a few red drops forhistory to remember.Then--I forget.When I, the People, learn to remember,when I, the People, use the lessons of yesterday and no longer forgetwho robbed me last year, who played me for a fool--then there will be no speaker in all the worldsay the name: "The People," with any fleck of a sneer in his voiceor any far-off smile of derision.The mob--the crowd--the mass--will arrive then.